


Foster Mother

by ciannwn



Category: Doctor Who, Sixth Doctor Era - Fandom
Genre: Disturbing Themes, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-20
Updated: 2011-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-27 14:43:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,541
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/296964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciannwn/pseuds/ciannwn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The story of a tender young orphan...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Foster Mother

"Mummy! Mummy! Wake up!"

He screamed at her, hating her in his terror for wanting to sleep when he needed her. When she didn't move, he began to hit her because giving in to a violent temper tantrum was far preferable to acknowledging that she couldn't really be asleep amongst all the noise and confusion. Suddenly he was lifted into the air, and he kicked and wriggled in a futile attempt at escape. A scaled hand hit him across the face and, half stunned, he felt the will to fight draining from him.

He was too numbed by shock to be fully aware of what he later understood was a long journey to his new home. It was a room with other children, many of them crying continuously. But he rarely cried. He found a corner to curl up in and did what the Dragon Men told his because he was afraid of them

He grew resigned to being there, sleeping and waking with no idea whether it was day or night because the lights were always on and there were no windows to see outside through. And then, after what he felt had been forever, the background humming which he'd ceased even to notice became much louder for a while before stopping altogether.

They were herded from the room down a long tunnel and into a strange place which was so full of colour and new impressions that he began to take more notice of his surroundings. Too much was happening too quickly for him to really understand what was going on; the open air, a short ride through crowded streets in a car much bigger than the ones he'd seen at home, and finally a house where the Dragon Men were given some bright, shiny things and handed the children over to ... well, they sounded like ladies although they were very ugly. But they looked more like real people than the Dragon Men did and so they didn't frighten him so much.

He and the other children were bathed, dressed in clean clothes and given something to eat. He wasn't sure of the food at first because it was different to what his mother used to cook, but it smelled delicious and he realised he was hungry for the first time since the Dragon Men had come. He felt very sleepy after that, and knew nothing more until he was woken up in the morning by one of the ladies.

Sellia arrived after breakfast and inspected all the children before coming back to him.

"This one, I think," she said to the ladies. "The poor little thing looks half starved, but I'll soon put that to rights. How old is he?"

"Four, possibly five," one of the ladies guessed,

"Ah," said Sellia, "a tender age." Then she turned to him and smiled. "You're going to come and live with me. Would you like that?"

He stared at her and wondered if he wanted to go with her, because she was ugly and not much like his mother. She seemed very kind though, and after a moment he nodded.

Sellia's house was very big and full of pretty, brightly coloured things. There were many other people there too because she was rich and able to have servants do the cooking and cleaning, unlike his mother who had usually been too busy to play with him. He himself lived in the nursery with Nanny and Meena a girl of his own age who didn't like him at first but who soon became his friend.

 

He was happy there. He and Meena had more toys than he'd ever imagined existed to play with. And there vas always food - ordinary meals such as breakfast, dinner, tea and supper and all sorts of sweets, cakes and pastries which they could help themselves to at any time if they were hungry. Nanny was nice and he liked her, but Sellia was more fun and he liked her even better. She came to visit them every day and read stories and showed them all kinds of games although she didn't let them run around too much. After a while he stopped missing his real mother, and he even forgot the Dragon Men when he was awake, though he still sometimes had nightmares about them. Whenever he woke up screaming Nanny would fetch Sellia no matter what time of night was, and she would comfort him and give him special treats because she said it wasn't good for him to have bad dreams and be unhappy.

Then one day Meena went away, and Nanny told him it had been time for her to leave them because she had got too big for the nursery.

"Will I have to leave the nursery too?" he asked her.

Nanny smiled. "No, not yet. But you don't want to stay here forever, do you?"

He didn't. He had nothing against the nursery except that he wasn't allowed to leave it in case he broke things in the rest of the house. It made him very cross to think that Meena could now go anywhere she wanted when she was no older than he was. She was a lot clumsier than he was too, and although he promised Nanny he'd be ever so careful it didn't do any good.

"When Sellia says so, and not before," she told him, and gave him his favourite kind of squishy cake to make him feel better.

Sellia came to tea with him the following afternoon and brought some different things for them to eat.

"I had a party last night,` she explained, 'and I saved us something for a special treat."

"Did Meena go?' he asked, as Nanny ladled delicious smelling stew onto their plates.

"Yes she did," Sellia told him happily. "Such a sweet little girl. Everyone loved her."

"Why didn't I go?" He was crosser than ever at being stuck in the nursery, and scowled at his food just to show her how he felt.

"You're too little yet," Sellia replied, daintily picking at a small bone as she spoke. "But perhaps the next one... when you're a good boy," she added meaningfully.

He understood that he would only be big enough if he ate all his meals up, every last scrap, so he picked up his spoon and quickly emptied his plate.

 

He missed Meena, but Sellia made up for it by spending more time with him. After a while he got to like having her all to himself and so he was very upset when Tia came and wouldn't even say hello to him. He didn't want to share Sellia with a stranger, and what was worse Tia was green and made him think of the Dragon Men again.

Sellia saw how unhappy he was and got him to tell her what was wrong.

"Never mind," she soothed, putting her arms around him to let him know she was there to look after him. "You'll never see the Dragon Men again."

"Promise?" he insisted. He trusted her completely and felt safe with her, but he still needed reassurance that the Dragon Men wouldn't make her go to sleep too and take him somewhere else.

"I promise," she told him, hugging him tightly. "But you must stop worrying about them or you won't be able to come to my party."

He forgot about Tia and the Dragon Men in his excitement. "You mean I'm big enough to leave the nursery?" She nodded. "And I'll be with Meena?"

She smiled brightly. 'Yes," she said. "I suppose you will." She stood up and took his hand. "And now we must hurry... there are so many things to do. Say goodbye to Nanny."

"Goodbye Nanny," he called across the nursery, but Nanny only waved at him. She was too busy trying to coax Tia into trying a biscuit.

Sellia led him out onto the landing and down several flights of stairs to a part of the house he hadn't seen when he first arrived. There were no pretty things here, and even the walls were painted a drab grey instead of bright colours like the rest of the rooms.

"Is this where the party is?" he asked doubtfully.

"No, of course not," she reassured him. "But you can't go as you are. You have to be prepared first."

A servant appeared though a door at the far end of the corridor and Sellia released his hand. "I must go now, but I'll see you again this evening." She sounded sad and he looked up at her, unable to understand why she wasn't as excited as he was.

"Aren't you happy you're having a party?" he asked, uneasy at her inexplicable change of mood.

"Of course I am, darling," she replied, smiling brightly again. "Now run along or you'll never be ready in time."

Sellia 0'The Karsheg Grig watched him skipping along the corridor and wiped away a tear as the servant closed the doer between them.

"You are a fool," she told herself sternly, turning away and putting her hands over her ears to shut out the terrified screams from the kitchen. 'Won't you ever learn not to get emotionally involved with dinner?"

 

THE END


End file.
